{
  "patent_number": "US 12736528",
  "country": "US",
  "title": "Diagnosing Brain Conditions by Watching Lab-Grown Neurons Light Up",
  "original_title": "Diagnostic methods for neural disorders",
  "summary": "This patent describes a method to diagnose brain disorders by taking a patient's cell, turning it into a neuron, making it glow when active, and comparing its light patterns to a genetically matched healthy cell.",
  "what_it_does": "The patent describes a method to diagnose neuronal conditions. It involves taking a patient's cell and converting it into a neuron. This engineered neuron is then modified to include an \"optical reporter,\" which means it will show a light-based \"optical signature\" when stimulated, reflecting its electrical activity or \"action potentials.\" To understand the effect of a specific genetic change, a control neuron is created using \"genome-editing.\" This control neuron is genetically identical (\"isogenic\") to the patient's neuron, except for the single mutation being studied. By comparing the optical signature of the patient's neuron to this control, any differences can be linked to the mutation and used to diagnose a \"neurodegenerative disease,\" such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's. For example, a patient with suspected Parkinson's disease could have their skin cells converted into neurons, made to glow, and their activity patterns compared to an edited, healthy version of their own neuron to identify disease-related changes.",
  "what_it_does_not_cover": [
    "Does not cover diagnostic methods that rely solely on electrical measurements of neurons without an optical reporter.",
    "Does not cover diagnosing neuronal conditions directly within a living patient's body, as it specifies \"in vitro\" evaluation.",
    "Does not cover methods that use non-neuronal cells or existing neurons from a patient without converting them.",
    "Does not cover diagnostic approaches that do not involve creating and comparing to an isogenic control cell.",
    "Does not cover methods that detect neuronal activity using chemical or mechanical means rather than optical signals."
  ],
  "filed": "2020-02-24",
  "granted": "2026-09-15",
  "expires": null,
  "status": "active",
  "holder": null,
  "holder_url": null,
  "inventors": [],
  "times_cited": 0,
  "tags": [
    "biotech",
    "pharmaceutical",
    "gene_editing",
    "diagnostics",
    "healthcare"
  ],
  "abstract": "The invention generally relates to optical methods for the diagnosis of neuronal condition by converting a cell from a patient into a neuron and optically evaluating action potentials of that cell in vitro. The cell is transformed with an optical reporter and exhibits an optical signature in response to neural stimulation. Using genome-editing, a control cell can be made that is isogenic but-for a known mutation and a control signature obtained from the control cell. Thus, methods of the invention reveal potential neurodegenerative effects of a mutation as manifested in a patient's genetic context. The optical signature of the cell, or the difference between the signature and the control signature, is correlated to a diagnosis of the neurodegenerative disease.",
  "url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/12736528/diagnostic-methods-for-neural-disorders",
  "markdown_url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/12736528/diagnostic-methods-for-neural-disorders/md",
  "google_patents_url": "https://patents.google.com/patent/US12736528",
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}